Perfectly Normal
by Daniel Jasper
Summary: 'Sirius was fine. Completely, utterly fine.' Sixteen-year-old Sirius Black has been locked away in St. Mungo's psychiatric ward. [AU] [one-shot]


**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.

**A/N: **[AU] [Marauder] Sixteen-year-old Sirius Black has been locked away in St. Mungo's psychiatric ward.

**Warnings: **Self-destruction.

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**Perfectly Normal**

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A huge flash of lightning lit his window purple-white, and a great whooping gust of gale drove the rain against the glass so hard that he thought it would surely break. However, when it did nothing but rattle the brittle windowpanes, the knot in Sirius' stomach loosened, allowing his complexion to regain its normal unhealthy sallow.

Nevertheless, the moment of temporary peace was soon shattered when he realised that if the window had burst into a thousand pieces he might have been able to escape. It would have been his only chance of leaving the place that claimed he was a danger –not only to society, but also to himself.

As he pulled his tender body slowly up off the wooden floor, Sirius peered around the small enclosing, making a mental note that he couldn't even remember when last he had left the confinements of the almost empty room.

Each day was just the same –meals were served through a flap in the door, medication was administered directly by needle, and the only people who dared to communicate with him were adults in crisp white lab coats. Naturally, Sirius lost any concept of time and the days had begun to blur together.

He continued to unhurriedly walk across the room and settled down next to the only other piece of adornment in the room of his besides the cramped bed that was huddled in the corner.

The floor length mirror.

Another strike of lightening blazed across the sky and from the angle, that he was seated at, Sirius was able catch his reflection. Soft, but tired eyes greeted him, with gloomy shadows encircling both darkened orbs. He dared not sleep, and if he did, Sirius regretted it a few hours later when he would wake in a cold sweat or worse –screaming. Captivity had not been kind to him as got increasingly restless as each day wore on and was liable to lash out at his surroundings when frustrated.

The mark of this was quite literally etched into Sirius' face and where once the smooth areas of his cheekbones were his best feature, they were now littered with angry scratches and abrasions.

Lifting his hand up, Sirius watched his mirror image furiously wipe away tears that trickled down his dirty face and pooled into a small puddle on the hardwood floor beneath him. He was surprised when the reflection had stopped moving and seemed to be focusing on his hands. When he looked down at them for himself the sight almost made Sirius want to retch.

Each finger was bruised and blackened as if someone had intentionally tried to break every single one of them.

He could not recall how this had happened because even with being kept in the same space constantly and following the same mundane routine there were moments when he blacked out. When resurfacing from these episodes Sirius would have no recollection of what happened beforehand at all.

Therefore, the only thing he thought he had to hold on to, as he listened to the thunder gently rumbling –indicating that the storm had moved further on, was that perhaps one day he would be able to find his escape. That he would break away from the people who tried to tell him that there was something wrong with him. Sirius was fine. Completely, utterly fine.

At least that is what he whispered to himself under his breath repeatedly to convince himself that he was normal.

_Perfectly normal._

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**A/N: **Poor, messed up Sirius... Anyway, **review** and tell me what you think. Even if you didn't I want to hear from you –constructive feedback is always the best kind.

**Oh, and if any of you have read some well-written depressed/abused/tortured YOUNG Sirius please can you PM the link or the name, it'd be much appreciated as I don't think there is enough stories about Sirius out there**.


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